Spike.



kl A` FOSTER.

SIIKE. APPLICATION FILED ma. I9, I9Is. RENEWED AUG. I8. |911.

Patented Nov. 27, 1917.

TaTnnT erraten.

ETHRIAM A. FOSTER, or SANDUSKY, omo.

SPIKE.

Application filed February 19, 1916, SeralNo. 79,354.

To all whom t may concern.' -Be it known that I, Eieiniint `a citizen of the United' States,

Sandusky,

A. F os'reu, residing,y at

Ohio, have invented certain new and uset'ul are present in railway travel` where there eovlin between the .x working up after once being driven in.

Improvements in Spikes, of which the following is a specilication. t

y invention relates to an improvement in spikes and relates more particularly to railroad spikes which are intended to fas ten down the rails to the ties. although, of course, they may be `used in any other field whereapplicable, such as in ship building and lconstruction work.

in county of Erie and State of Specification of Letters Patent.

The object of my in vention is to produce' ke so constructed as to prevent its This obviate many of the dangers which a sp1 l will 1s a possibility of a loose spike permitting the rails to spread so that a wreck is the result. This is accomplished bythe pro- `vision of a slotin the side of the spike in combination with a curved point, so that upon its being driven in, the curved point will tend to bend its working out.

In the. accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a perspective viewcf iny s ike' e pFig. 2 is a vertical cross section with the effects of driving it in shown in full lines; and

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the point section of the spike on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

vThe spike A is provided with a shank l anda head 2, as is customary, and about two-thirds the Way down the shank 1, is placed the slot 3, which marks the dividing shank and the point section The slot 3 is preferably placed on the same`side of the shank extends Tsutliciently into the shank as to form a substantial yet bendableconnection 5, between the shank and the point section 4. As will be noted that portion of the point section 4, on the inner-side of the shank directly below the :,-fot 3 projects out a nale naher aan aie-Width of ai@ upper portion of the spike,

as the head 2, andl the Spike, thus preventing -the slot whereby to Patented Nov. 2t', T931?. Renewed August 18, 1917. Serial No. 136,933..

'.l`he point section 4 is provided With a. convex surface 6 at the point and the other surface of the point may beI either a continuation of the surface of the a cutting away to a 'point as at 7.

ln the utilization of my spike the rail is placed in position and the spike is started dmvnwardly in its desired location. The action of the wood against-the curved sur- 'face (i owing to the fact that thelpointis tapered directly back of this surtace will' torce the pointed section at an angle to the line et driving, causingthe bending to take place at the connection 5. as illustrated in lig. t?. lhc result ot this bending action will be to have the shoulder 9 of the pointed section -l engage tht material of the tie and prevent its working out.

Should there be .some reason why the curved surface G will not suffice to bend the pointed section, as for instance 'where there is .i knot in the way. the spike will assume the position indicated in dotted lilies in Fig. Q and will still bc incapable of working out because ot'tlie tact that the spike 1 is thinner than the pointed section 4. and after the fibers ot the wood have yielded to the thick section 4, they will immediately contract around the sh'ank l, and the as before, engage Vthe tie removal of the spike.

I claim:

1. A spike h provided with a comparatively deep kerf adjacent to the point, and-which extends in thc saine general direction as the bevel of the point. thereby forming a sharp upturiicd barb substantially flush with the side ot the spike. said kei-f extending into the spike a sutlicient distance to weaken it and adiiiit ot its bending, Yand thereby outwardly dcflecting the upturned barb when the spike is driven.

2. A spike, the shank of which has a transverse slot` and a point curved on the slotted side and tapering at the rear thereof, whereby upon driving the spike the curved poi'- tion ot the end will cause it to bend open at vprevent the removal of for pre venting the the spike. 8. A spike the shank of which has a transshank 1, or u aving a beveled point, and

shoulder 9 wil-LVS() portion of the end will cause the slot to open :und Cause the shoulder to protrude 4fnrdwl' wyond the face of thv spike, thele- 10 by yn-cwntng the removal of the spike.

EPHRIAM A. FOSTER. 

